The Rain Streams Down
by Rainbow Platypus
Summary: The pattern of water is often intricate. Take rain, for example. It flows down to a window pane in the way you'd least expect it to turn sometimes. Gary/Petey SLASH, because it's what we do.
1. Welcome Back!

So I, basically, am very disappointed with the FF community.

YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED.

Like 10 GaryPetey stories out of 140?! That's 130 useless stories!! YOU SICK BASTARDS. I decided to add my own little ficcy to the community. This fandom has so much potential...

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"Gary, you realize I don't want you to screw up this time…"

"I know, mom, damn." The scarred teenager crossed his arms and scowled. 5 months at Happy Volts, he was ready to get the hell back to civilization.

"Gary," his mother started with an exasperated sigh "I'm serious. You're a smart kid, you read people very….easily." She gripped the steering wheel as they came to the stoplight. Her knuckles turned white, and her cherry polished nails gripped the palm of her own hand.

Silence.

"…and, I want you to realize how many strings we had to pull to get you back into this school…"

Gary stared out the window and pretended to listen to his druggie cow of a mother. He began to ponder of what people might say when they see him. He knew Hopkins would be pissed, and it didn't help he was on thin-ice, meaning no violence. But then another realization—

_Petey._

Dear old Femme-Boy. Oh how he will dread their room being shared once more.

This thought of Peter Kowalski in torment made Gary chuckle darkly to himself, which made his mother shift in her car seat uneasily. The old Volkswagen pulled up to an iron gate with a gargoyle overlooking who entered.

"Well, we're here. Go see Dr. Crabblesnitch. He made it very," she hesitated, "clear, that he needed to talk to you."

Gary was already outside the car with his bags, and walked up to the slowly-opening gate.

The car skidded off down the street.

Through the rain.

Leaving Gary on his own.

Walking through the campus wasn't very welcoming, to say the least. Cold glares and snorts were his home-coming gifts. Just as he remembered the jack-asses at this school. He was the only one lacking a dry umbrella, but who the hell needed one. He wouldn't wear this T-shirt for at least a month. Spring break. Woo-hoo.

Gary was so pre-occupied in his thoughts, as he is ALWAYS thinking, he barely noticed the carrot-top bigshot walking past him.

"I swear," Beatrice started "They've started to scab!"

" Well, yeah, I'll have to take a raincheck…"

Gary's head snapped up. He knew that voice.

It was too late to dodge his gaze, as he was already spotted.

"…"

"…"

"What the FUCK are you doing back here, you psychopathic shit?!"

Gary smirked. "You know, _James_," Gary started putting emphasis on Hopkins' full name, "Saying 'fuck' and 'shit'—contrary to popular belief—doesn't make you sound any smarter…you'd find, actually, that it makes one sound inferior..." his smile widened "Weak, even."

Jimmy glared and was guided away by Beatrice before he could do anything brash, but that didn't stop Jimmy from glancing over his shoulder as he retreated into school grounds.

--

--

"Ah, Smith."

"Sir…"

"One moment. Take a seat, boy."

Gary grimaced at the name "boy" and sat down in the oak chair in front of Dr. Crabblesnitch's desk. The head pushed the red button on the intercom system and his booming voice came over the loud-speakers.

"Peter Kowalski to the Head's office. That is all."

Gary winced deviously. His own little punching bag was back.

"So, Gary." Dr. Crabblesnitch inquired as he folded his hands and leaned over his desk. "You will be abiding every rule, order, and code of conduct in the handbook. You will have your old room-mate, as you may have gathered."

"Yes, sir." He knew it was best to agree with everything the head said now, and bend, stretch, and sculpt the rules into just what he wanted them to be later. Making the whole school his moldable little puppet that did everything he expected without even realizing it. Manipulative little bastard.

Peter Kowalski groaned at the announcement on the P.A. system. He was just capturing the character of Ms. Philips' lip hair. Why did he have to get called down during art class?! Dammit all!

He threw his pencil down on his desk with a clack and got up to leave out the door. The art room WAS right down the hall from the office, so how long could he stay for anyway? What did he even do?

"Hello, miss. The head sent for me?"

Ms. Danvers looked up from Dr. Crabblesnitch's agenda to see the brunette boy. "Oh yes! Peter," She motioned at the door with her pencil she was writing with. "Go on in." Pete nodded and turned the door handle until it clicked and took a step in.

One step is all though.

Because he sure as hell recognized that Hitler hair cut.

"…G-Gary…?"

Mr. Smith turned around. "Femme-er, Peter!" Gary was so excited he was at a loss for names for once. His brain skipped ahead to the nickname the head would surely disapprove of.

"You're dismissed, Mr. Smith. Mr. Kowalski, may I speak with you a moment?"

Pete, now white as a ghost, nodded, and walked further in.

Gary sweeped by the shorter boy and smiled viciously, back to the principal. "See you around…Femme-boy." He muttered under his breath. And just like that, he was out the door, and Petey was sitting where Gary had just a moment ago, the seat still warm.

Gary sat outside of the office in the chairs lined up in a waiting-room type fashion. He was studying Ms. Danvers. Repulsive creature, simply repulsive. She was way too old to be wearing a dress that short. What was she, like 50? Gary crossed his arms and sneered at the sight of her. Gary looked up as the office door creaked open and revealed the headmaster shaking Petey's hand and thanking him. Gary was pondering for what. Petey seemed beyond uneasy. Dr. Crabblesnitch cleared his throat. "Mr. Smith, do you remember where the dorm is?" Gary grimaced. Of course he does. But…

"No, sir. I can't say I do." Gary closed one eye playfully and rested a finger on the side of his head. "5 months in a mental facility can really mess up a young man's mind."

"I see." The headmaster said. "Mr. Kowalski, would you show Gary to your dorm?"

Petey gulped and nodded. Then they headed outside.

They were silent most of the walk. Around the school, past the library. It would take a while to get there. They walked slowly with their hands shoved in their pockets and looked down. The rain came down on top of their heads.

"…"

"So, little Petey, you're not even one bit interested in how I got back here?"

Petey growled. "You threatened someone with a knife, probably. Fuckin' psychopath."

"Petey, that stings!"

"Don't even try the dramatic gay act." Petey was referring to how Gary clutched his chest as if he's been wounded. It pissed Pete off more than hell.

Gary chuckled.

"Well, Femme-boy, it seems you've grown some balls since I left."

Pete rolled his eyes. What a jag.

They made it to the dorm, finally. And the days classes were over anyway.

"I missed freaking art for this?" Pete asked himself as he plopped down on his bed.

"Quit bitching, you queer."

Petey decided he'd pushed his luck too far, and stopped talking.

After deciding to stay in the rest of the night, since it was oh-so-rainy, he started on some English homework. Mr. Galloway was being a bitch about papers. It was due in 2 days. Ugh, he had to write the outline, the draft…

He'd almost forgotten about the sociopath in his room. He was unreasonably quiet.

He wondered why for a brief moment then went back to his assignment.

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Okay, well I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope I get more reviews than I was expecting!

;D


	2. Rubbing Alcohol

Chapter 2



3 reviews, and all positive. I just died and went to heavenz. XD

Because, come on, it's good for an unpopular category on FF. XD

(OMG, I'm so sorry, just a quick suggestion—if you like bully, look up the Super Awesome Lazy Bully Flash by dragonrider13025 on YouTube. I pissed my pants laughing.)

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Gary lay back on his bed, with one hand on his chin; he looked out the window next to his bed. It's been raining for 2 days now. He wondered why…why the rain streamed down the way it did, forking and curving, the flow of the water always switching paths, never stationary. Why that way instead of the other?

Damn his overactive mind.

He stepped out of bed groaning, onto the worn rug next to his bed, and put on his shoes. He needed to clear his mind, and these egg-shell white walls reminded him too much of the insanitarium. Groggily, he walked across the room to the door, but not before being stopped by Petey.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Gary winced and looked back. "I'm going for a walk." He opened the door and walked out. "Don't wait up."

"But Gary, it's after curfew!" Pete called. "Dammit."

The place basically looked just as Gary remembered leaving it. The prefects were on patrol. People were still playing tonsil hockey behind the gym, greasers were still racing bikes around the auto shop. As much as everyone glared and sneered, he was glad to be back. He was glad to be somewhere that wasn't full of cutters, maniacs, serial killers, and the criminally insane. He was glad to be somewhere that wasn't TOTALLY twisted. He smirked remembering everyone back there. How much he despised them. How horrendously unworthy they were of the life they were given.

Crazy.

The rain had slowed to a slight drizzle. Gary's mind was buzzing like a freshly beaten beehive.

As it always was.

Petey leaned against his headboard. It wasn't very settling that he shared him room with a mental hospital reject. It also wasn't very settling that he wasn't back yet.

…Not that Pete cared or anything.

Not at all.

…

_What the hell?_

He eased down his very, very tense shoulders, could it be possible he was…dare he say, worried? After everything Gary's done- the relentless taunts, the harassing…and that one kick to the family jewels when Jimmy first came. And now he was getting worked-up about that asshole? No! Hell to the no!

_Well, it's about time to head in._ The troubled boy thought while stretching his arms over his head.

It was around two, judging from how long he'd been out there and by his eternal clock.

He shoved his hands in his pockets ad began walking back to the boys' dorm.

"HEY!"

"shit…"

Before Gary knew it Edward Seymor II was right in front of him.

"No, look. I'm just out here for a walk, pal." Shiiitttt.

_Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!_

"There's no need for complex reasons where a simple beating won't do!"

"Mother F-"

SLAM

Pete looked up from his book. _There he is._

"Damn, dude, you look terrible."

"Shut up," Gary glared and shuffled across the room.

"You're nose is bleeding!" Pete exclaimed.

The taller boy grumbled and fell onto his bed. "Remind me to kill all the prefects at this school."

Petey just stared as Gary tried to lie down and then shot back up and swore.

"Dammit!"

"Gary what the hell is wrong with your back?" Pete looked at Gary with the pathetic puzzled look on his face.

Gary closed one of his eyes in pain. "That little shit just up and slammed me into a fucking fence."

"Oh, God, what did you do?" Pete asked jumping up with a troubled look on his face. He knew Gary was a freak with temper. Gary just chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair. "Petey you act like I'm a psychotic freak."

Petey stuttered. "Erm, no, not really, I just…"

"It's pretty justifiable considering I knocked him out though." The muscular boy said with a smirk.

Pete swore to God he heard a cricket chirp in the silence of that moment.

"Gary, what the hell?! Are you trying to get expelled again? You're going to—"

Gary growled. "Femme-boy, would you just shut up so I can go to sleep?"

Pete got up. "Let me see your back."

Gary scooted back to the top of his bed. "What are you, queer? Get back!"

"Let me see, I'm trying to help you, be lucky I even care."

Gary glared and reluctantly took on his uniform top. "You're such a bitch." He muttered.

Pete was almost taken aback by Gary's physique. He had perfect muscles and his abs were practically GODLY. Pete shook free of this sudden come of admiration and actually focused on Gary's back.

"Whoa, Gary you're back is covered in bruises and scrapes." Pete ran his hand over the contusions which made Gary reel back in pain, maybe even an ounce of fear, however pathetic it may be. "Hang on a second." Pete said as he went into the bathroom and got some rubbing alcohol.

His hands were so gentle it was scary. Gary cringed, at this thought. It really terrified him actually. And—was Pete…GAWKING at him? He swore he heard him babble for a moment… No. No.

No.

"Okay, I got some alcohol, and some ice."

Gary nodded.

Peter got a cotton ball and poured some of the liquid on it, and started dabbing it over Gary's cuts.

Gary could only think about how relieving it felt. It stung, yeah. But still.

He winced and grimaced occasionally just out of the zing he felt…it also wasn't helping his heart was beating about 175 beats per minute. 'Probably a side-effect of one of his meds, right?

Petey finished up with healing the picturesque teenager and handed him an ice pack. "That should keep down the swelling for a while, I'd suggest sleeping on it."

Gary pulled on a ratty sleep shirt and grumbled a pathetic "thanks."

It was finally time to sleep.

* * *

Okay, wow. I found myself hesitating while I was writing this. I was so worried about letting you guys down, it was pathetic. Lol. Reviews make me happy, and the last chapter got all-in-all like 5 reviews. I was like ":DD!! AH!"

I hope you guys liked it, and remember to review…?

I dunno.

I love you guys. 3


	3. The Place Where Gary Stayed

Chapter 3: The place where Gary stayed.

Italics--Flashbacks

**I am SO sorry it took so long…I got uninterested in the pairing/fandom for a while… -gets shot 5000 times- X.x**

(Subliminal message: review.)

THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO…Uh, YOU!! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! ):0

* * *

Pete was pretty vexed the next day. Mostly because of the fact Gary kept him up all night with the snoring. It was 1 o' clock when he'd finally gotten around to falling asleep. It was hardly what you'd call peaceful, too.

His eyes fluttered open as the light flooded into his view. His hands were thrown over his head and he rubbed his eyes. '_I knew I should have slept out in the lobby. I'm fricking __exhausted__.'_ Petey turned his head and looked at his clock. Just then, a shocking realization dawned on him.

"I'M LATE!!"

The sheets flew up into the air as the brunette teenage boy scattered across the room trying to throw the various books and papers into a pile on his bed before scrambling to his wardrobe and pulling out his uniform.

The clock indicated he was 15 minutes late to class.

On a block day too.

2 classes of art is usually a good thing.

"Oh, shiiiitt…"

Gary leaned back in his seat his seat in Ms. Phillips' room towards the back. The seating was pretty much grouped. The few nerds in the class of course took the front, despite their lack of interest in the arts. If they didn't get good grades in exploratories, their GPA would of course go down, and we couldn't have that, now could we?

The few move preps and greasers sat in the middle, on different sides.

Things hadn't changed that much since Hopkins came into power after all.

Most people never showed up, so the back was pretty empty.

Gary quite liked it that way.

He was immediately snapped out of his class-wide observation when he heard a door open.

Ah, he'd wondered where Petey was. Damn, he looked like hell. His hair was tousled, his sweater vest was lumped up in the side, and he was currently letting out an exasperated sigh and signing the tardy sheet. So-long perfect attendance….

Gary saw Peter's eyes dart down to his usual seat in the front row. Melvin was sitting there.

The only seats left were in the back with Gary. Before either of them knew it Pete was sliding into the desk next to Gary and hissing words to him from across the aisle way.

"Did you turn off my alarm again?"

"No."

"Really?" It didn't sound like a question.

"Yeah, really, Femmie."

Pete rolled his eyes and pretended to pay attention to their art teacher.

"So what did I miss?"

"Well,"

"_Hello, children, it seems I have you for two class periods today." Ms. Phillips beamed a short-lived plastic smile and rubbed her hands together, as if to improve circulation…or to induce her maniacal plotting… Gary knew that it was probably the first choice though. Not everyone is crazy._

"_As we all know, the world is falling victim to corruption and corporate delusion. People barely help each other anymore…We're falling apart. But if we stand together…"_

_Gary looked out the window not even bothering to listen. This was sure to be another "Save the World" project they do every year. They'd go clean up the park in the Vale, pretend they did something and go home. Gary's mind soared through his usual racing thoughts as Ms. Phillips ranted on about how as the future, the children of this class cold do something. _

"…_however," the class perked up a bit. "…after last year…" a couple people reminisced of what happened last year, when Johnny Vincent found Lola cheating on him once again, and chucked an empty cola can at Constantinos' eye. _

"…_we will not be cleaning up Old Bullworth Vale."_

_Everyone groaned. _

"_What?! But it's so easy!"_

"_What else would we do?"_

"_Aw, man!"_

_The young man with the pink imperfection across his right eye internally scoffed at everyone's sniveling. _

"_INSTEAD," they shifted in their desks and grew quiet. "Instead," the young art teacher re-gained her composure and smoothed out her knee-length skirt, "we will be teaming up into groups of two, and we will each do 15 hours of community service. You will each sign yourselves up to a specific spot, once you have your partner, on this clipboard." She held up a rectangular piece of wood with a sheet of paper (what appeared to be a chart) fastened onto it with the metal clasp at the top._

_Gary raised an eyebrow. This was certainly different… _

"_There's an even number in this class, so don't even ask about a group of three. Got it? Go get with your partner." Many scoots of desks were heard as the whole class got up and went and sat next to their best friend, girlfriend, etc. _

_In under a minute everyone was sitting next to ho they were doing the project with, and Gary was left in the back, with no one._

_Ms. Phillips noticed._

"_Smith, where's your partner?"_

_He shut his eyes and scratched the back of his head. "He's not here yet…" he grumbled rather unpleasantly._

_Ms. Phillips shifted her weight to her other foot and sighed. "Well, why don't you wait for him to get here then, if you're so damn sure he's not sick." She turned around on her heel. _

"…Then she made me wait for you."

Petey sighed. "Well, let's go see what we're stuck with then." He said getting up out of the desk, with Gary close at his heels.

Ms. Phillips had left and told the class to have "study hall," which consisted of the preps mingling around desks, the greasers shooting spitballs at them, and the nerds studying in the corners to avoid the raining chewed up paper.

Gary slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks and took a glance at Pete. He really did look a mess.

"Peter, will you help me with the trigonometry homework?"

"Oh sure, B. hang on a second." Petey said and walked over to the desk Beatrice was sitting at. Gary looked over to discover she was blushing madly. If there was one person she was infatuated with more than Jimmy Hopkins, It was Pete Kowalski. And she'd do anything for his attention, even if it meant dumbing herself down. Petey was fortunately VERY unaware.

Gary let out a low chuckle and picked up the clipboard with his un-pocketed hand and scanned down the list.

'Let's see here…. Gord and Derby…Homeless Shelter….huh, surprising…Beatrice and Melvin…Orphanage tutoring….' His eyes finally scrolled to the bottom of the list, and landed on the one blank un-taken community service slot.

His cocky grin turned into a shocked stare. He stood there for a second, just looking down at the paper in his hand, before throwing it back down on Ms. Phillips desk and storming out the door, without even gathering his books.

Pete looked away from Beatrice's desk, to her dismay, and looked at the door. "Gary? Gary!" he shuffled over to the teachers desk and picked up the clipboard and ran his eyes down the list. "What the hell, G-"

It was then Pete laid eyes on what drove Gary to leave, walk out.

At the bottom of the list was,

": Happy Volts Insane Asylum"

**

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**

A/N: You know what my favorite word is? Flabbergast. It's like "LOL wut?"

**Oh yeah.**

**Please review??**

**I know you're SO used to hearing that on every story you've ever read but it makes me so happy.**

DDD

Until next time, loyal readers!!

And because I feel like I can talk to you guys, We were in Florida in February, cuz we were movin' and all, and I saw this kid with Gary's haircut.

And I swear…I kid you not, his parents called him Gary.

He was like 6 though. XDDD

UPDATE: Okay, we just moved and stuff and I've had this done a while but our interenet isn't hooked up and my mom is convinced I broke her laptop when I didn't, so SO SORRY for the delay. I piggybacked someone's server so I got on like 5 seconds to upload this.

See? I care about you guys.


	4. Help

HAPPII NU YEAR

(Why the hell is "HAPPII" in my word dictionary?)

I'm officially the worst fanfiction-er ever. I've let you down.

I'm going to try to update AT LEAST once a week from now on! You have my word!

Also, I want to make it abundantly clear that I am NOT ABANDONING THIS FIC. I'm just lazy and I have limited ideas because I suck. D:

But you've all stuck through this far, so you must love me after all!!! :DDDD  
You: …No, we just like your story.

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**Chapter 4**

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Pete didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know why he left in the middle of his favorite class (rather fast, might I add.) He didn't know why he ran outside into the overcast cloudy day. He didn't even know where he was going.

He did know one thing.

Gary was fucking fast.

By the time Petey left got to the front doors he was already out of his sight. The young brunette heaved a sigh and considered going back to class. They had another hour left...of study hall. It's not really like Pete had any friends in that class, other than Jimmy, who had decided to choose music as an elective this year. _'No way, dude. I'm not going back to that crazy-ass drama queen. Galloway's enough to deal with. And now they're fucking together. I mean, damn, really.'_

Traitor.

A bored look over fell his face as he remembered Jimmy's rant at the beginning of their sophomore year. Going back would be a waste of time. 'Might as well…' he thought before quickly setting off on foot past the library with a new determined air.

As he rounded the corner, he realized just how difficult this might be. I mean, come on. The campus is HUGE. Lucky for him, Melvin O'Connor and Bucky were sitting outside the library on the steps, arguing about some paper in their hands. Character Sheets? Probably.

"Hey, guys." Pete raised a hand in greeting as the two stereotyped nerd caught notice of his presence.

"Hey, Pete!" Melvin grinned as Bucky stayed wrapped up in…whatever. Pete was pretty well-liked by the library-habitants. Too cool to actually be one, though, naturally. I mean, he was Pete. Duh.

"Um…You guys wouldn't happen to have seen Gary, would you?" he asked with an amused chuckle. It was odd. He usually ran away from Gary, not after him.

Melvin quirked a brow. "Yeah, I think someone said they saw him leaving through the front gate or something. I didn't see him…So I'm not sure. I'm actually pretty relieved." A laugh. "Even since he came back, everyone's been on their guard." He sighed and looked at his feet.

"…Gary's back?" Bucky's attention was peaked at the mention of the well-known psycho. It didn't really look like he was too interested, if you took in the deadpan expression on his face. He must have been SOMEWHAT concerned if he'd torn his eyes away from his precious documents of geek.

Pete blinked over at Melvin's friend.

"Gary _Smith_ is back?" he asked again, as if trying to assess the information by emphasizing Gary's last name. 'What other Gary is there?' Petey thought warily.

A scoff came from Melvin, helpfully. "He apparently came back yesterday. I hear his mom had to sleep with the superintendent or something." He paused. "Except I believe Jimmy started that as a rumor, come to think about it. It's not really like we need to question what his motive is—"

"SWEET HOLY GANDALF! PROTECT THE FORTRESS!" Bucky shrieked while jumping over the wall next to the library.

"…"  
"Ah…dammit. It started to drizzle. Why is it so rainy this time of year?" The bespeckled youth lifted up his palm to confirm the precipitation. "I'll see you later, Pete." Melvin gathered his friend's forgotten papers and slung his bag over his shoulder.

'Great. Gary left the campus all together. All of Bullworth is in danger now.'

--

--

I have to go back there. _There._ A fucking asylum. I spent the whole damn summer there. I even weened my stomach off of meatloaf (if they could even call it that) and all the other crap they call food they serve there.

…

Come to think of it, Edna's cooking's pretty bad too.

So here I am, on some random bench in front of Rick's bike shop, just sitting in the damn rain. My hair's pretty much plastered to my forehead now. I put my elbows on my parted knees and hang my head in a desperate attempt to get the persistent locks off of my skin. They don't seem to be budging.

It grew a little longer over the summer…Longer than I'm used to.

It pissed me off.

It's been raining quite a bit lately, I've noticed. I was forced to buy some random jacket from some equally random store. 'Worn Out' I think. No… That name doesn't sound right. But it was something similar, I know.

I'd conveniently forgotten to wear it this morning. I should have gotten it when Pete didn't show up to class. Yep. Perfect opportunity. Gone now, and I'm freezing my ass off. I guess it doesn't matter much, I'm here now, at least, and I'm being forced to go back to that prison. I thought Bullworth was bad. Didn't I have another thing coming? I pondered if I could weasel my way out of it somehow as I ran my hand through my hair, jarring the previously stuck hairs in my eyes. The people in the cars going by under the practically pitch-grey sky and pools of dirty water probably see me just as weak as I feel right now. …I despise weak people. Always have, always will. Just sat there for a while. How long, I have no idea. It didn't seem too long before the soft patter of rain on the back of my head ceased. It stopped raining? No…I still here it on the streets. What the…

I was being covered by a large nylon navy blue umbrella. The holder, possibly even my rescuer, was none other than the notorious…

"…Pete what are you doing here?" The boy standing in front of me had a look of pity and concern in his eyes. I didn't like either of them.

He seemed to ignore my pointed glare with a shrug, unaware of the raindrops dying his school uniform a deeper color of blue, spot by spot.

"Someone has to worry about you. I figure I'm going to be stuck with you a while anyway, so…" Stuck with me?

"I don't need your help." I instantaneously spat back. The venom in my voice was enough to make him flinch, apparently. Recovering quickly, a couple moments passed in silence, him getting wetter by the second, and me getting drier.

"We-e-ell, are you ready to go back to school yet? You'd be lucky if you didn't catch a cold. Really, going out in the icy rain without a jacket?" the object of my usual torture scoffed. What was this guy, my mom?

Not like my mom really cared when I got a cold anyway. Psh. People wonder why I'm messed up. Like it's not obvious. Honestly though, that's not really the issue now.

"Um…" Petey dug around in his pocket with his free hand and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, soon also to be victim to the 'water spottiness'. Oh yes. I went there. "…Ms. Phillips excused us for the rest of the day…It was actually pretty sudden. I guess you've got the whole faculty worried." A laugh escaped his lips, as if trying to lighten the mood. I wasn't amused.

"I don't know if Seymour squealed or not, but if he did, I think you'd be re-expelled."

At my prolonged silence, he cleared his throat. "You…You can't keep running off like this, Gary."

My eyes unintentionally narrowed. "What do you care?"

Kowalski's eyes cast down to his sneaker-clad feet. "I don't know." The response was practically a whisper. Before I had time to question him on this answer, as it did not suit my likings, a spine-tingling shiver went down my entire body. A nice rest of the day at the dorm didn't seem so bad suddenly. Clicking my tongue, I stood up, gently pushing the umbrella back over his own head, feeling the cold rain wash over me once again.

He looked up at me with confusion in his brown orbs.

"I already told you." I clarified quickly. "I don't need your help."

The walk back to the academy was eerily silent.

Rarely, cars drove past us, and the _whoosh_ of the tires cutting through the puddles were the only sounds that reminded us we weren't deaf.

--

--

Pete insisted I go to the nurse's office. I refused profusely, but after being on the verge of hacking up chunks of my throat, it couldn't easily be avoided.

Big surprise. Alas! Nurse McRae pretty much shoved a thermometer down my throat, as I sat in the infirmary with the girliest boy in school.

It was turning out to be a top-notch day.

As quickly as it was forced under my tongue, it was plucked back out, and the readings were read aloud by the aging old medic.

"101.3" She spoke as if auctioning it off. Yeah, she surely realizes I'm literate, right?

"You're running a bit of a fever." I guess not.

Thank you, Miss Obvious.

She disposed of the plastic covering that every school nurse puts on the bulky temperature taking device in the nearby, only wastebasket, and suggested I go rest.

--

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**If you enjoyed this, or hated it…or whatever. Review por favor! **

**I…fail at keeping them in character, don't I? hehe.**


	5. Duties and Requirements

**I OMG SOMEONE ADDED CHARACTER FILTERS FOR BULLY. –spaz-**

**Um…**

**Yeah. This took **_**kind of**_** (rofl) long because I'm epic fail. Sorry. I've been busy. My friend was ripping on me, like "lol 'every week', eh??" She's very rude.**

**You can hit me if you want. **

**(Lol, my mom's reading this. Hi mom. =D )**

**Plus, before this author note gets too long, I'm going to respond to your reviews a lot more. Reader-Author interaction is love.**

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Gary glowered intently at the wall. Even the off-white walls appeared blurry through his aching eyes. He shifted himself a little, so that he was on his stomach rather than his side, and buried the bottom half of his face deeper into his folded arms on his bed, never breaking his gaze from the wall…though he was beginning to feel quite drowsy again. He'd probably slept at least the majority of the past three days. He'd been told multiple times that sleep was the only solace one got from being ill. What a lie that was. Rest was never peaceful. One hour he'd be tearing the sheets off of himself to relieve the burning sensation that consumed him, and then the next he'd wake up freezing in a cold sweat, and stumble around for the comforter again. Being conscious wasn't much fun, either. When he was awake, Pete was either spoon-feeding him or measuring out Gary's 12-hour dosage of cough syrup. Pete had taken on the role of a mother hen after Gary caught a vague case of pneumonia, and Gary was less than pleased. He hated nothing more than being coddled. That's what Petey was doing; coddling him. He didn't like knowing that he was to feeble to get up and beat the snot out of someone, let alone not being able to stand without his head spinning.

Every five seconds he'd pop in and ask if Gary needed anything, and Gary always responded with hacking cough and a groan, before pulling the covers back over his head and attempting to make this terrible pain go away. He couldn't even concentrate without his brain throbbing. He'd never been this sick, ever. The worst he'd ever had it was when he apprehended the chicken pox from that sniveling dork in his kindergarten class. Even THAT was just immense discomfort—itching. His immune system must be pretty weak, being sick this long. He wasn't used to the flu, either. And guess what OTHER illness conveniently came along in the pneumonia super-package?

Gary's glaring and thought process was interrupted by a horrible retching feeling. He quickly grabbed the waste basket out of reflex, and allowed the last of his stomach acids to painfully come up. The feeling of heaving up food you never had in the first place, because of the pain swallowing would cause is almost as bad as the headaches.

He wiped his mouth on the dimmed white sheet that covered the lower-half of his body and tried to swallow the acidic bile taste that consumed his mouth and washed over his tongue.

As if on queue, the door opened and a smallish brunette boy entered through with care.

Now let's get something straight. Pete did not enjoy being around Gary. Pete did not enjoy taking CARE of Gary. Any sane person would ask something inquiring why, or such. The answer's quite simple, really. Pete cares too much; about everything, and about everyone. He could walk by Hitler bleeding to death on the sidewalk, and still reluctantly come to his aid.

It's funny how similar that is to what's happening now.

"…Feeling better?" Pete asked, earning a glare from his roommate.

"Was the bucket of puke a tip-off?" he remarked snidely, but failed at sounding intimidating due to his ghastly congestion.

Petey's face fell. "You know, I don't have to help you." Gary opened his mouth to shoot something cruel back, but the chance was ripped from his clutches when a hard knock came from the door. "Pete?"

Gary flipped back over on his stomach with his feet to Pete, and the door, and stifled a cough with his pillow, then nestled into it, trying to get to sleep.

"Come in," Pete called to the door quickly. A short-haired ginger boy with freckled dusted over his cheeks walked in through the door in his regular attire from freshman year. He uttered a lame greeting to his friend, and let his eyes travel over to the form trying to rest among a heaping pile of used tissues scattered all over his side of the room.

"'Ey, Pete. I heard you took in an injured bird, lately."

Gary flipped Jimmy off without even raising his head.

"Uh-huh." Jimmy squinted at the apathetic brunette, even more than he usually squints, "If you weren't sick, your bitch-ass would be through that window by now." Jimmy jerked his head towards the open pane next to Gary's bedside table, which Petey noticed was running out of tissues. "But unlike you, I actually fight fair."

Pete _really_ would like to avoid a fight breaking out between his two some-what friends in the middle of his dorm room, so when Gary started to push himself up out of his face-plant, the shorter brunette quickly focused to another subject.

"So, Jimmy, what're you doing here?" his eyes darted back to Gary. To his immense relief Gary had froze before plopping himself back down into his pillow and giving a snort on impact.

Jimmy shrugged nonchalantly. "The preps are having a race at the Vale. I was wondering if you wanted to come be my cheerleader." He finished jokingly, shooting a mischievous smirk Pete's way.

Petey rolled his eyes, but flushed nonetheless. "You're such a douche. Let's go."

Hopkins shoved his hands in his pockets. "It's sunny today, you don't need a coat."

"Really?" Pete quirked an eyebrow, to which the redhead nodded his head to confirm. "Alright."

The curly haired youth turned to tell Gary they'd be back soon, but his back was rising and falling steadily, so he took it as a sign the older boy was asleep. Without another word, the two friend left into the distastefully green hallway, and headed out the front doors of the Boy's Dorm.

"Gary been playing nice?" Jimmy asked bitterly. Pete was thrown off by the sudden question, and shot a bemused look over and Jimmy, who was staring at his sneakers as they pattered rhythmically across the cement.

He didn't know whether Jimmy was being protective, or vengeful, or even both, but Pete appreciated the sentiment just as much.

"He's really not that bad, Jim. I mean, sure, he's an asshole—he's not an ass to me, I mean." Pete quickly saved after Jimmy perked up.

"Hm. Who knows? Maybe the loony bin electro shocked his brain into sane-land." Jimmy joked dryly.

"That's terrible!" Petey laughed, followed shortly by Jimmy's own chuckles.

"You know, we should give him a chance. He might have changed."

Jimmy snorted skeptically as they weaved over to the left of the school gates to get their bikes. "I doubt it."

"Innocent until proven guilty, Jimmy."

"When he's proven guilty THEN can I beat the snot out of him?" Jimmy swung his leg over the seat and pushed off.

Pete paused and thought for a moment before sighing and pedaling after his short-tempered friend. "Sure."

--

--

"You suck at supporting, Pete." A mock-peeved Hopkins boy walked through the doors with his best friend in tow.

"That was _not_ my fault—eh--you're nose is still bleeding." Jimmy crossed-his eyes downward and wiped his upper lip on his hoodie sleeve.

"Besides," Pete continued as they ventured into the common area, "That was 100-percent Bryce."

"Yeah." The carrot-top plopped down on the worn olive sofa to the right of Pete and rested his elbows on his knees. "He's getting it tomorrow."

A scoff came from Jimmy's left, and the TV in front of them blinked on. "I thought you didn't want people to patronize you."

He crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling. "There's a difference between throwing a race for points, and not loosening the screws on your front wheel."

"Heh. You have to admit, though. That face-plant was glorious."

The older boy growled, only to find even more blood dripping out of his surprisingly-in-tact nose. He wiped it away on his equally crimson jacket. Red clothes were convenient, he'd learned.

"Ugh. Is there anything on this piece of crap TV?" Petey flipped through the channels exasperatedly.

Jimmy inspected a mysterious brown stain on the ceiling above him and shifted his feet up on the coffee table. "There's swimming."

The TV flicked to another blurry channel. "I learned my lesson about _that_."

--

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Since Gary had gotten back, something irked him. Everything was still the same. His room still looks the same, with it's ugly wooden floor. Petey's bed was still in the opposite corner of his, which was just in front of their door. Pete still had his desk parallel to his bed on the far wall, and the room still smelled like paper.

…It was an odd smell.

Maybe it was the ADD, but he couldn't go long without something changing. The only thing different was Ms. Phillips' last name, and even that hadn't stuck with the students. "Mrs. Galloway" and "Mr. Galloway" teaching in the same building could get confusing. So, 'Phillips' it had stayed.

Gary was very surprised when he opened his coffee-colored eyes to the familiar cream ceiling and his vision was clearer, and his stomach didn't hurt as badly. In addition to that, he could move without his vision swimming. He rubbed his face with his coarse hands and let out a grumble. Spring community service projects start in 3 days, and at the rate he's progressing, the sickness won't kill him in time. His legs swung over the side of the bed, and he started to lumber towards the bathroom to wash his face.

Gary Smith wasn't stupid. He knew he wasn't exactly "happy," as most people think is the norm, and he also knew that the abusive and eerie asylum of Bullworth was one of the few places he would very much never like to visit again. The main point, though, was the fact that he _didn't_ know if his psyche could take the bad memories again. He knew better than to ask Ms. Phillips or the Head, because is you don't like something, the teacher's have a built in system to make sure that you go through with your misery. For some shit like building character or something…

The cool water washed the warm and clammy feeling from Gary's face, and he gripped the sides of the white porcelain sink. The bathroom was conveniently across the hall from his room, and it was the only one in the cramped living quarters. Why did the girl's dorm have two floors, anyway? There are only like, 12 in the entire school. How many boys were there, honestly?

There was a window next to the farthest stall and sink from the door, it glowed an eerie mix on white and aqua. The dirty grey tile looked luminescent and the cheap fluorescent lights were off during the day.

The question still remained, and Gary was getting uneasy. There had to be a way to get out of this. There's always a way to be excused…right?

He turned around and leaned against the front of the sink and let out a long sigh. This was going to be a problem. And the more he thought about it, he can't skip it. The community service project is worth half of the second semester's grade…and Bullworth had no tolerance for F's and D's Gary recalled as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back. No, bad grades meant expulsion and he couldn't get expelled again. Despite the absolute hell-hole Bullworth is, it works for him.

'_Well, how hard can it be? Come on, you're acting like a sissy.' _Gary snorted and silently agreed with the voice in his head. He'd have to tough this one out. Just this once.

He turned back to the direction of his room, and decided to get some sleep to lift the cloudy sensation swirling around his head.

He needed his mind. It was his best weapon.

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**Sweet gawd. "Sane-land"? Really, Skye?**

**Anyway. I wanted to make this chapter extra long (2,000 words!! …Shut up, it's long for me.) for those of you who waited so diligently and continue to read and criticize. It means a lot, and sorry for the delay, again.**

**-R.P.**


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